Nearly 25,000 dead; 12,873 new infections

Florida added 12,873 coronavirus cases Thursday to bring the cumulative total to 1,613,884. With 161 more fatalities, 24,739 Florida residents are now dead.

Each report includes deaths from several previous days, as it can take two weeks or more for fatalities to be logged.

Across the state, 7,033 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of about 1 p.m. Thursday, including 363 in Orange County, 185 in Osceola, 154 in Lake and 107 in Seminole. The state’s online tool updates several times throughout the day.

To date, 70,306 people have been hospitalized in Florida, according to the state’s report, which includes 352 newly reported hospitalizations since Wednesday’s update.

Jumps in cases and deaths have come as Florida is trying to roll out its vaccination program. Gov. Ron DeSantis has emphasized

As of the most recent update, 1,059,041 people have received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, and 123,971 people have received the second dose.

To date, 9,766,761 people have been tested in Florida, 50,760 more than Wednesday’s total.

Central Florida added 2,424 cases Thursday for a total of 279,094: 764 more in Orange for 96,170; 369 more in Polk for 46,855; 293 in Osceola for 31,498; 274 in Volusia for 28,289; 240 in Brevard for 26,975; 201 in Seminole for 22,574; 231 in Lake for 20,128; and 52 in Sumter for 6,605.

Central Florida had 48 of Thursday’s newly reported deaths, bringing the region’s toll to 4,092. Polk County, due to nursing-home outbreaks, has the most coronavirus fatalities in the region with 914, followed by 857 in Orange, 595 in Brevard, 485 in Volusia, 393 in Lake, 346 in Seminole, 332 in Osceola and 170 in Sumter.

The virus has infected over 97 million people and has killed over 2 million worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University & Medicine

Coronavirus Resource Center. Nationwide, over 24 million people have been infected and over 407,000 have died.